Steve Jobs passed away

[walk066]

Just saw it on yahoo. No details yet. Sad to see an icon leave this world.

[satchel27]

WTF?

was he battling something?

[satchel27]

never mind, just read............. pancreatic cancer

[Patriots Game]

Google says he passed

[GamblingMike]

Wow, RIP Steve Jobs.

[Mendoza Line]

Crazy. Dude just stepped down because of health. Didn't realize it was that close to the end.



His family, in a statement released by Apple, said Mr. Jobs "died peacefully today surrounded by his family...We know many of you will mourn with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy during our time of grief."

The company didn't specify the cause of his death. Mr. Jobs had battled pancreatic cancer and several years ago received a liver transplant. In August, Mr. Jobs stepped down as CEO, handing the reins to Tim Cook.

"Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being," Mr. Cook said in a letter to employees. "We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much."

During his more than three decade-long career, Mr. Jobs transformed Silicon Valley as he helped turn the once sleepy expanse of fruit orchards into the technology industry's innovation center. In addition to laying the groundwork for the high-tech industry alongside other pioneers like Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates and Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison, Mr. Jobs proved the appeal of well-designed products over the sheer power of technology itself and shifted the way consumers interact with technology in an increasingly digital world.

"The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come," Mr. Gates said in a statement Wednesday.

The most productive chapter in Mr. Jobs's career occurred near the end of his life, when a nearly unbroken string of successful products like the iPod, iPhone and iPad changed the PC, electronics and digital media industries. The way he marketed and sold those products through savvy advertising campaigns and its retail stores, in the meanwhile, helped turn the company into a pop culture icon.

After exhibiting significant weight loss in mid-2008, Mr. Jobs took a nearly six month medical leave of absence in 2009, during which he received a liver transplant. He took another medical leave of absence in mid-January without explanation before stepping down as chief executive.

Mr. Jobs is survived by his wife, Laurene, and four children.

Although his achievements in technology alone were immense, Mr. Jobs played an equally groundbreaking role in entertainment. He turned Apple into the largest retailer of music and helped popularize computer-animated films as the financier and CEO of Pixar Animation Studios, which he later sold to Walt Disney Co. He was a key figure in changing the way people used the Internet and how they consumed music, TV shows, movies, books, disrupting industries in the process.

"Despite all he accomplished, it feels like he was just getting started," Disney CEO Robert Iger said in a statement Wednesday.

Mr. Jobs also pulled off one of the most remarkable comebacks in modern business history, returning to Apple after an 11-year absence during which he was largely written off as a has-been and then reviving the then-struggling company by introducing products such as the iMac all-in-one computer, iPod music player and iTunes digital music store.

The company produces $65.2 billion a year in revenue compared with $7.1 billion in its business year ending September 1997. Apple has become one of the world's premier designers of consumer-electronics devices, dropping the "computer" in its name in January 2007 to underscore its expansion beyond PCs.



Long article. Whole thing here: Steve Jobs, Apple Co-Founder, Is Dead - WSJ.com

[be47320]

very sad, he was a genius

[mrwho]

yep..RIP. lost a great mind today...

[grzftbl]

RIP Steve.

F'ing cancer. Cannot believe we can't find a cure for this awful disease.

[JR7302001]

RIP Steve!

[vikesfan]

RIP Steve Jobs

[ParrotHead]

RIP Steve Jobs, Great Mind

[mikkii10]

yes lost a great mind indeed rip steve

[cptkirk321]

The world just lost a brilliant man in Steve Jobs. The world will forever be changed because of his visions and if anybody who is in business wants to study a person and emulate their practices I would highly recommend studying how Jobs did it. This man was a perfectionist, it was said that Bill Gates wanted things perfect but if it took 2 or 3 times to get it there that was fine, but in Jobs world it wasn't just getting it perfect, it was getting it perfect the first time that seperated him from most.

RIP Steve

[mrmarket]

RIP Steve JOBS